Against today's defenses, he would be worse than durant during playoffs. There is a reason lebron had to shoot those jumpers to win this year. Top defense now are smarter and adapt way better. Most players from the 80/90s will have drop in their stats playing in today's league in postseason. Jordan is probably the only one from 80/90s who would post very similar stats from his championship runs. Magic and bird would both have drops in PPG and APG playing in today's league during postseason.

LOL... Malone would feast on today's post players. No way guys like Chandler, Marc Gasol and Hibbert stops him from averaging close to 28 ppg. Malone averaged 26-31 ppg during the big men era. You could argue that defenses today are "smarter" and adapt way better but a team with Malone can find ways to maximize his strengths and effectiveness. Pair him up with a great PG like Chris Paul and it will be lights out for the league. Pick and roll all day long.

LOL... Malone would feast on today's post players. No way guys like Chandler, Marc Gasol and Hibbert stops him from averaging close to 28 ppg. Malone averaged 26-31 ppg during the big men era. You could argue that defenses today are "smarter" and adapt way better but a team with Malone can find ways to maximize his strengths and effectiveness. Pair him up with a great PG like Chris Paul and it will be lights out for the league. Pick and roll all day long.

it is called a weak big men era for the offense, not the defense but keep using those words and not watching the actual games. also, teams would not allow ball to get to him if he is the main threat.defenders like kawhi, paul george, lebron make it so hard for point guards to pass to big men freely. they also double team very well. He will do well in any era but he will surely not do any better than he did. there would be a defensive big man in Miami too if Malone or Hakeem played in the league. I have no idea why people think that players and teams would play the same way if there were more offensively gifted big men in the league. Guys like Dwight, hibbert, chandler would work even more during practice on defending against those post moves just like they work during practice at defending lebron from getting to the rim. Dwight is a pretty intelligent defender and would be an elite defender in an era of NBA.Same with hibbert and chandler. chandler and dwight were hurt this year which made them look worse. also, Miami allowed those pick and roll in later games as they were getting lit-up from 3 pt range otherwise duncan wasn't having a great series. even in later games of pacers series, miami made it a pain for pacers to get the ball to their big men. This is the Miami team that plays small. they would have been constructed differently if other contenders had prime hakeem or malone in their team. today's defense is a joy to watch and i sometimes am surprised how much they adjust from game to game and how complex the defense is.

it is called a weak big men era for the offense, not the defense but keep using those words and not watching the actual games. also, teams would not allow ball to get to him if he is the main threat.defenders like kawhi, paul george, lebron make it so hard for point guards to pass to big men freely. they also double team very well. He will do well in any era but he will surely not do any better than he did. there would be a defensive big man in Miami too if Malone or Hakeem played in the league. I have no idea why people think that players and teams would play the same way if there were more offensively gifted big men in the league. Guys like Dwight, hibbert, chandler would work even more during practice on defending against those post moves just like they work during practice at defending lebron from getting to the rim. Dwight is a pretty intelligent defender and would be an elite defender in an era of NBA.Same with hibbert and chandler. chandler and dwight were hurt this year which made them look worse. also, Miami allowed those pick and roll in later games as they were getting lit-up from 3 pt range otherwise duncan wasn't having a great series. even in later games of pacers series, miami made it a pain for pacers to get the ball to their big men. This is the Miami team that plays small. they would have been constructed differently if other contenders had prime hakeem or malone in their team. today's defense is a joy to watch and i sometimes am surprised how much they adjust from game to game and how complex the defense is.

So do you think Malone would put up similar stats nowadays, or worse? Because if he's posting his MVP numbers nowadays he would be the 2nd best player in the NBA right now.

Also, most teams don't play defense like Miami. Most teams lack good defensive big men. The only defensive big men that I think are comparable to the big men of the 90s are Dwight and Chandler.

Don't be fooled by regular season stats.The Spurs were a slow-paced half court team and Duncan is simply obsessed with winning games and titles. Prime Duncan only recorded huge numbers when the Spurs were in trouble.

In the playoffs, his numbers skyrocket after the first round because the Spurs lacked firepower compared to the Lakers,Mavs,Suns...At the end of the day,Duncan wins the H2H battles without really trying,no matter who you are.

BTW,Malone's FG% dropped significantly when the playoffs arrived.I'd like to see Malone's ppg and FG% with a 100-year old-Terry Porter and a teenager Parker instead of John Stockton.

Lettuce be real though, if Malone didn't have to play Jordan every time he was in the finals, he would probably have two or at least one ring before he retired.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Solefade

Or you can say that Jordan was just really clutch?

Can you tell me why the Malone/Stockton Jazz didn't make the Finals the other 16 years they were together ? There's no Jordan in the Western Conference, so what gives ?

And if Jordan was just really clutch in the Finals when he faced the Jazz... what does that say about the other 16 teams that they faced every other year they didn't face the Bulls ? Were they just really clutch too ? Were they always the favourite to win ? Or is it just that Malone/Stockton and co... were just not that good enough come playoff time ?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anaximandro1

Defense - Duncan

Offense - Duncan

At least I'm not the only one who thinks so.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SamuraiSWISH

Duncan is quickly becoming overrated.

Even if he is, he won't be as overrated as Malone is right now. This thread just proves my point on how many excuses this guy gets.